I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons previously stated.
The playing field just isn't level.
TK, please do not include my results in any future reports, as it will not
be changing and the results will not be realistic.......
Arne
In article <WXigf.12585$>,
"happy-guy" <> wrote:
> I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons previously stated.
> The playing field just isn't level.
>
> TK, please do not include my results in any future reports, as it will not
> be changing and the results will not be realistic.......
>
> Arne
Your moniker belies your attitude.
I've heard of a "sore loser," but this is the first time I've met
a sore winner . . . .
Arne, I don't understand this decision at all. The playing field is most
certainly level. Participants can invest in whatever they want to and the
person with the most money on December 31 wins. What isn't level about that?
"happy-guy" <> wrote in message
news:WXigf.12585$
> I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons previously stated.
> The playing field just isn't level.
>
> TK, please do not include my results in any future reports, as it will not
> be changing and the results will not be realistic.......
>
> Arne
>
Well, Sam, I'm not a sore anything and I'm not sure why you are so
concerned. Your take is I have no rights and I should just stick it out for
your entertainment value? Nah. I made a rational decision when I found out
that I was mistaken when I thought this was supposed to be more or less a
real life event.
When I found out I had misinterpreted the rules, I adjusted my position....
simple as that. David is doing very well using a one stock position and I
bear no grudge. But, I also am aware his portfolio is not realistic and
bears no resemblance to real life..... while mine does. That gives him what
I consider an unfair advantage. I had not anticipated this when I agreed to
enter the contest.
But, that's life, and I just made a minor adjustment. If you try a bit
harder, perhaps you will win.
Happy Guy
-
"sam grey" <> wrote in message
news:
>
> Your moniker belies your attitude.
>
> I've heard of a "sore loser," but this is the first time I've met
> a sore winner . . . .
Ed, to me, real-life and make-believe are not the same.... If they were,
after I came out from a Chuck Norris movie feeling all pumped up with
testosterone, and was confronted by a mugger, I'd just kick his ass......
Actually, I don't know why all this concern about me leaving the contest. I
thought about it for a couple of days, and felt more comfortable leaving.
Nothing more complicated than that. At 66, I feel no particular need to stay
in a contentious situation, an this certainly has turned into one of those.
But, you know, I deal with this stuff everyday. Some days I make money, some
days I don't. It is not a way to make a living I would suggest to anyone,
but it was a choice I made 10 years ago, and it has worked. And, it can be
very stressful at time. So perhaps, I just take it more seriously than
others who consider it "just a game".
Maybe a half-assed comparison would be that I attend sheep dog contests
where handlers and dogs go through a very grueling run several times per day
in extreme heat, cold, rain. Egos are bruised, dogs run to exhaustion,
sometimes getting overheated and collapsing. I also attend the handler's
dinners where, as to be expected, prizes are awarded, handlers discuss the
dogs, which many depend on as helpers in their daily lives. They are
discussing real life issues where they can succeed and fail based upon
decisions they make. When they find out I am just a spectator (usually we
are the only non-handlers there), we sometimes hear "why are they here, they
don't even own a border collie?". So, it is real life with real life
concerns (them) vs. me who can always Monday morning quarterback their
runs....... If I could pick the top dog of the day, I'd always win.
But, in any event, I'm quite content with my decision, and best wishes to
all the rest of the contestants..... I have to go back to my real life
investing, now..... so if you will excuse me.... I'm done explaining my
decision. Then I think I'll head out for a bicycle ride.. the rest of the
week doesn't look too good.
Happy Guy
-
"Ed" <> wrote in message
news:
> Arne, I don't understand this decision at all. The playing field is most
> certainly level. Participants can invest in whatever they want to and the
> person with the most money on December 31 wins. What isn't level about
> that?
happy-guy wrote:
> Well, Sam, I'm not a sore anything and I'm not sure why you are so
> concerned. Your take is I have no rights and I should just stick it out for
> your entertainment value? Nah. I made a rational decision when I found out
> that I was mistaken when I thought this was supposed to be more or less a
> real life event.
>
> When I found out I had misinterpreted the rules, I adjusted my position....
> simple as that. David is doing very well using a one stock position and I
> bear no grudge. But, I also am aware his portfolio is not realistic and
> bears no resemblance to real life..... while mine does. That gives him what
> I consider an unfair advantage. I had not anticipated this when I agreed to
> enter the contest.
>
> But, that's life, and I just made a minor adjustment. If you try a bit
> harder, perhaps you will win.
>
> Happy Guy
> -
> "sam grey" <> wrote in message
> news:
>
>>Your moniker belies your attitude.
>>
>>I've heard of a "sore loser," but this is the first time I've met
>>a sore winner . . . .
>
>
>
Sorry to see you go, Arne. I was hoping to catch you! There is no saying
I ever would have done though. A single stock is high risk and although
it has gone up 5% today, as I write, it could go down 5 or 10% tomorrow.
Theoretically it could go to zero before the end of the year, but it's
not likely. The reason I take the risk is that I think I know enough
about this stock to expect it not to go down, but no one knows the future.
Going back to the contest rules, what few there are, there is no
restriction on investing only in mutual funds and not in ETFs, iShares,
Sector funds, Stocks, or anything else covered by Finance-Yahoo.
I finally got round to looking at the ProFunds UltraOTC, which is the
single fund you invest in at any time to see what it actually was and find:
"The UltraOTC ProFund provides leveraged exposure to the technology and
growth-oriented NASDAQ-100® Index.
Objective
Seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that
correspond to twice (200%) the daily performance of the NASDAQ-100 Index."
I think most mutual fund investors would think that investing just in
the Nasdaq index with leverage to give twice the gains or losses and
swapping your complete portfolio from long to short and back again up to
5 or 8 times a month to try to time it is pretty high risk. I am not
sure what the distinction is between this strategy and mine for risk
level. I certainly would not do either in real life.
I have seen Mark try to do something similar to you with Spyders, or
whatever they are, and he has come unstuck every time, now trailing last
for the third year in a row. I can't remember what TK did early in the
year, except that I think he was well ahead with a lot of money in one
stock and it suddenly dropped a huge amount, moving him down from first
to last. He has clawed his way back into contention pretty well though
on a "never give up" basis.
I think that whatever you do in a contest, you keep to the rules and try
to do what it takes to win. Isn't that the American way? No one else
seems to be complaining that after nearly a year of struggling with
conventional diversified portfolios that had got me basically matching
the index and placed nowhere, I decided to try something else that
looked as though it was promising. I could still wind up last on 31 Dec!
Arne, I think that's 3 contests started and none finished.
You can't say that you were unfamiliar with these games.
Anyway, if you want to quit again that's fine, it's just a game anyway.
"happy-guy" <> wrote in message
news:Cakgf.12590$
> Ed, to me, real-life and make-believe are not the same.... If they were,
> after I came out from a Chuck Norris movie feeling all pumped up with
> testosterone, and was confronted by a mugger, I'd just kick his ass......
>
> Actually, I don't know why all this concern about me leaving the contest.
> I thought about it for a couple of days, and felt more comfortable
> leaving. Nothing more complicated than that. At 66, I feel no particular
> need to stay in a contentious situation, an this certainly has turned into
> one of those.
>
> But, you know, I deal with this stuff everyday. Some days I make money,
> some days I don't. It is not a way to make a living I would suggest to
> anyone, but it was a choice I made 10 years ago, and it has worked. And,
> it can be very stressful at time. So perhaps, I just take it more
> seriously than others who consider it "just a game".
>
> Maybe a half-assed comparison would be that I attend sheep dog contests
> where handlers and dogs go through a very grueling run several times per
> day in extreme heat, cold, rain. Egos are bruised, dogs run to exhaustion,
> sometimes getting overheated and collapsing. I also attend the handler's
> dinners where, as to be expected, prizes are awarded, handlers discuss the
> dogs, which many depend on as helpers in their daily lives. They are
> discussing real life issues where they can succeed and fail based upon
> decisions they make. When they find out I am just a spectator (usually we
> are the only non-handlers there), we sometimes hear "why are they here,
> they don't even own a border collie?". So, it is real life with real life
> concerns (them) vs. me who can always Monday morning quarterback their
> runs....... If I could pick the top dog of the day, I'd always win.
>
> But, in any event, I'm quite content with my decision, and best wishes to
> all the rest of the contestants..... I have to go back to my real life
> investing, now..... so if you will excuse me.... I'm done explaining my
> decision. Then I think I'll head out for a bicycle ride.. the rest of the
> week doesn't look too good.
>
> Happy Guy
> -
> "Ed" <> wrote in message
> news:
>> Arne, I don't understand this decision at all. The playing field is most
>> certainly level. Participants can invest in whatever they want to and the
>> person with the most money on December 31 wins. What isn't level about
>> that?
>
>
"David Wilkinson" <> wrote
> I think most mutual fund investors would think that investing just in the
> Nasdaq index with leverage to give twice the gains or losses and swapping
> your complete portfolio from long to short and back again up to 5 or 8
> times a month to try to time it is pretty high risk. I am not sure what
> the distinction is between this strategy and mine for risk level. I
> certainly would not do either in real life.
I don't see much of a difference either. Swithching between these two funds
probably isn't on the most popular ten methods list. If Arne wants to quit
again don't try and talk him out of it. I doubt you can. The last couple of
times he quit he was doing poorly, for whatever reason, but he quit then
too. A little disappointing but the trend is holding.
From a Usenet and learning perspective, interesting
decision. I'd say it goes more towards pointing out that the
contest is pretty useless in some ways. So Arne's decision
has value, IMO. Not that anything will change.
With a few others, I remain bothered that it simply couldn't
be restricted to all mutual funds. I grant that there is
value in comparing stock investing to mutual fund investing.
But since ISTM this group is to help people who have already
decided to go with mutual funds, then the contest should
focus on mutual funds. It misleads newbies and others into
rethinking what may be an entirely sound decision to work
mostly with mutual funds.
"happy-guy" <> wrote
> I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons
previously stated.
> The playing field just isn't level.
>
> TK, please do not include my results in any future
reports, as it will not
> be changing and the results will not be realistic.......
>
> Arne
"Elle" <> wrote
> It misleads newbies and others into
> rethinking what may be an entirely sound decision to work
> mostly with mutual funds.
Newbies won't be switching leveraged funds.
Why don't you go find a guy for yourself and bore him to f'n death.
I know you tried already and no one will have you.
That is one thing that has been bothering me. In all fairness, I should drop
out of all contests.... I'll take care of that later today..
Happy Guy
-
"Ed" <> wrote in message
news:
> Arne, I think that's 3 contests started and none finished.
> You can't say that you were unfamiliar with these games.
> Anyway, if you want to quit again that's fine, it's just a game anyway.
"happy-guy" <> wrote in message
news:WXigf.12585$
> I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons previously stated.
> The playing field just isn't level.
>
Well, sorry I wasn't there to stop you. Fyi, this has been discussed last
year when I took over mimfchal. I said then the best way to level the field
is to risk-adjust the performances rather than ristricting it to funds, etc,
since you can gamble with funds as well (just like you have with uopix).
For hopefully the last time, I invest, I do not gamble. My real life
investing was mimicked in 'the contest'.... In my current accounts, I hold
only otpix, uopix and inpix. otpix and uopix are OTC. inpix tends to trend
the same as uopix but is even more volatile, so I time it with exactly the
same system. Since I was in 2 contests, I chose uopix so putting the trades
in yahoo would be simpler.
Happy Guy, "Laissez les bons temps roulez"
..
..
"TK Sung" <> wrote in message
news:DIxif.27624$
>
> "happy-guy" <> wrote in message
> news:WXigf.12585$
>> I've decided to delete my portfolio for all the reasons previously
>> stated.
>> The playing field just isn't level.
>>
> Well, sorry I wasn't there to stop you. Fyi, this has been discussed last
> year when I took over mimfchal. I said then the best way to level the
> field
> is to risk-adjust the performances rather than ristricting it to funds,
> etc,
> since you can gamble with funds as well (just like you have with uopix).
>
>
(Dang, I don't know why this thread is not showing up in my
newsreader....)
happy-guy wrote:
> For hopefully the last time, I invest, I do not gamble. My real life
> investing was mimicked in 'the contest'.... In my current accounts, I hold
> only otpix, uopix and inpix. otpix and uopix are OTC. inpix tends to trend
> the same as uopix but is even more volatile, so I time it with exactly the
> same system. Since I was in 2 contests, I chose uopix so putting the trades
> in yahoo would be simpler.
>
So, how's this different from Mark's gamble, err, investment, other
than he hasn't been lucky in his timing? Now that you are quiting
while ahead, just like Clemens did last year, you could forever claim
that it was the skill, I suppose.